So, the Nuggets have recently wrapped up their first couple of preseason games in Abu Dhabi. It contained some ups, some downs, and some other tidbits I found interesting. There were some Nuggets debutantes – namely Russell Westbrook and backup big Dario Saric. Both gave enough to have takeaways about, and so did Julian Strawther and Christian Braun.
So let’s run through the roster top to bottom and take a look at (nearly) everyone. Talk about the good, the bad, and the ugly. Is this a cliched title? Yes. Is it applicable? Yes. Am I currently drinking coffee at 6:30 AM in Thailand trying to make this coherent? Also yes, so if there’s a bit of this type of writing cutting in – indulge me please. If you lot don’t like it, let me know in the comments and I pinkie promise not to ever do it again. If you like it, well also let me know that. Any who, on with the article.
The Core 4
Let’s start with the people I have the least amount to say. The core four – Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, Michael Porter Jr, and Aaron Gordon – all played in the preseason opener. MPJ and AG sat out the second game, but from what we saw from all of these guys there’s one takeaway. They are who we thought they were. There’s no mystery here, no frills, nothing like that. Albeit, even if there was two preseason games aren’t really going to give us a ton of insight that the past few seasons couldn’t have.
However, there really is nothing notable to talk about here besides the fact that Murray looks quicker than he did in the postseason. He looks spry compared to what we saw both in the postseason, and in the Olympics. Dealing with injuries will slow you down, and these two games seemed to have confirmed that that’s the source behind some of his struggles. There are still things you can pick apart about his game, but the reason he looked so poor over that stretch, in my opinion, can largely be chalked up to injuries. The vast majority of the team’s success will ride or die with these four, but we know what they are – so onto more interesting players (in terms of preseason).
Julian Strawther
Julian Strawther has looked very promising through the first two preseason contests for the Nuggets. In the first game, he put up 11 points on 50/33/100 splits. He looked spry, and faster than he did the season prior. Then he put up another 17 points on 50/40/60 splits the game after. In both games he looked excellent – like the player the Nuggets will need him to be.
He’s been an excellent catch and shoot threat. He still has little to no hesitation to shoot, a quick load up on his shot, and overall has provided the spacing that was advertised when he was in the draft cycle. He’s also been driving effectively to the rim. His floater still looks good, and he’s shown flashes of improved ball handling in the open court, coming off of DHOs, and also just creating for himself in the halfcourt.
While it is just the preseason, it does seem like Strawther has improved. With the amount of reliance the Nuggets are going to have on him – it’s a welcome sight. After him, the roster is very thin for two guards. You’d be talking about Trey Alexander, maybe Jalen Pickett there. So seeing him perform well must be a sight for sore eyes for Michael Malone. Overall, been a very encouraging preseason for him.
Russell Westbrook
The Nuggets bench has often struggled for an identity. Sure, you could say they played Jamal Murray iso-ball, but that often ended up with meandering offensive possessions that led to nowhere really. However, it seems that Russ will be able to give that to them at long last. Not only does the locker room seem to love him – Jamal Murray lights up any time he talks about Russ so far, but he also provides a concrete plan for what the team will play like when he steps onto the court.
He gets up and down the court lightning quick even at his age, and provides rim pressure that the Nuggets haven’t really had much in the Jokic era. He didn’t convert many of his layups in his Nuggets debut, but you could see the looks he created. Even if they didn’t go in, the defense had to cover him. He keeps them on their back foot, which creates easier looks for the rest of the team. You could see that with 8 assists. He also knocked down a couple of his open threes. I wouldn’t bank on that being a regular occurrence, but he’ll make more of those layups to balance it out.
Christian Braun
Christian Braun hasn’t made a three pointer so far in the preseason. It’s a small sample size, but that doesn’t exactly bode well for the Nuggets fans who were hoping to see a shooting jump from him. However, he has provided good defense. That’s to be expected from him, but one thing no one can ever question about Christian is his work ethic. Even in the preseason, he’s been giving 100%.
The offense has undeniably been rough though. Defenses still aren’t guarding him with the attention that you would hope for. They’re more than happy to leave him open. That will cause problems for the Nuggets if that continues to be the trend through the season, but you can’t count out the possibility of a shooting leap during the season. So while it doesn’t seem like he’s made one in the offseason, I have no doubt he’ll be one of the first in and last out of the gym to make it happen.
Dario Saric
The elevator pitch on Dario Saric was that he’d be a floor spacer for the Nuggets. Someone who could provide Russ with room to operate at his fullest capacity. He’s been a legit shooter for the past few seasons, but so far has only attempted a single three pointer during preseason. Fret not though, because that’s largely due to him getting mismatches a lot, and he’s done a good job punishing smaller opponents.
The defense hasn’t been great, but that was to be expected. He’s never been a positive defender and that’s not what the Nuggets brought him in for. It’ll be interesting to see where he makes his impact during the regular season, but so far has provided a good playmaking hub and scoring threat off the bench.
So, that’s the Nuggets preseason so far. There’s been ups, downs, other things, other other things, and as always with preseasons – take it with a pinch of salt. We’ve seen two games. Even if it were the regular season that’s still too small of a sample size to grasp any real takeaways.
